81

94

FINAL

Kings-Thunder Preview

By JEFF BARTLPosted Mar 27 2014 4:49PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder will see some of the better teams in the league toward the end of the regular season, but for now they'll try to take advantage of facing one of the Western Conference's worst.

Oklahoma City looks to bounce back from a tough defeat Friday night by winning an 11th straight home meeting with the Sacramento Kings, who again might be without starting point guard Isaiah Thomas.

The Thunder (52-19) trail San Antonio by three games for the top spot in the West and had their four-game winning streak snapped with Tuesday's 128-119 overtime loss at Dallas.

They will face the Spurs next Thursday before dates with Houston, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers and East-leading Indiana before the playoffs start.

"It's good for us to get in those battles at this point, to understand the possession game, how important each possession is, and value that," said reserve Caron Butler, who finished with 10 points. "We're learning each other on the fly still and I love what I see. We have to get prepared for the next challenge."

Russell Westbrook scored 23 points in nearly 33 minutes, just over his 30 to 32-minute limit because of history of right knee problems. Kevin Durant scored 43 points to give him at least 25 for the 36th consecutive contest, the longest such streak since Michael Jordan's 40-game run in 1986-87.

Though Oklahoma City has some tough remaining opponents, it also will face Utah on Sunday and Sacramento (25-46) and New Orleans twice each before ending the season against Detroit on April 16.

The Thunder have won eight straight and 17 of 19 meetings with the Kings, including both this season. Durant had 27 points and 11 rebounds in a 97-95 road win Dec. 3 before finishing with 30 points and nine assists in a 108-93 victory at home Jan. 19.

Thomas had 24 points in the first meeting and a career-high 38 in the second, but it's unclear if he'll be available for this contest after sitting out Wednesday's 107-99 loss to New York. He suffered a right quad contusion in Sunday's 124-107 win over Milwaukee.

Sacramento sure seemed to miss Thomas, who sat out his first game of the season. Rookie Ray McCallum got his first start and finished with 10 points, hitting only 3 of 14 from the field.

DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points and 15 rebounds for his eighth straight double-double. The Kings, though, allowed the Knicks to shoot 54.8 percent and hit 15 of 26 from 3-point range.

"We know what they wanted to do but we have to go out there and execute (defensively)," Cousins said.

Coach Michael Malone wasn't pleased after Sacramento had held its previous seven opponents below 50 percent shooting. The Kings are in for another tough task as Oklahoma City is among the league leaders with 106.2 points per game and 47.1 percent shooting.

"If you (allow) 55 percent from the field and 58 percent from 3, you're not going to beat many people in the NBA," Malone said.

The Kings haven't won a road game in the series since Oklahoma City relocated from Seattle in 2008-09.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Durant leads Thunder past Kings

By CLIFF BRUNTPosted Mar 29 2014 12:10AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Kevin Durant displayed his usual dominance as a scorer, and the Thunder supported him with one of their best defensive performances of the season.

Durant scored 29 points to help Oklahoma City beat the Sacramento Kings 94-81 on Friday night.

Durant's high-scoring ways have been wasted at times by the Thunder, who lost 128-119 at Dallas on Tuesday despite 43 points by the NBA's leading scorer.

This time, the Thunder held Sacramento to 51 points and 30 percent shooting through the first three quarters. Durant could have done more damage, but he sat for good with 1:25 left in the third and the Thunder firmly in control.

"Lately, we've been much better defensively and offensively," he said. "So, tonight was a good game. We put both sides of the floor together pretty well."

Durant has scored at least 25 points in 37 consecutive games, the longest streak since Michael Jordan's 40-game run for the Chicago Bulls during the 1986-87 season.

Russell Westbrook had 18 points and six assists and Jeremy Lamb added 13 points for the Thunder, who have won five of six. The Thunder have held their opponent to 96 or fewer points in four of the five wins.

"We put ourselves in position, if we defend, to win every game," Westbrook said.

DeMarcus Cousins, who entered the game ranked 10th in the league in scoring, finished with four points on 2-for-8 shooting while dealing with foul trouble. Rudy Gay, who averages 20 points per game, finished with seven on 3-for-11 shooting.

"Not one guy could take credit for stopping Gay or Cousins, so we just try to do it together and rely on each other, and we did a good job," Durant said.

Sacramento point guard Isaiah Thomas missed his second straight game with a right quad contusion. In two games against the Thunder this season, he averaged 31 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 56 percent from the field.

Thomas scored a career-high 38 points against Oklahoma City on Jan. 19. Without him, the Kings shot 37 percent from the field in one of their worst offensive performances of the season.

"The toughest position to lose is your point guard, just because he runs your team, and there were times tonight where obviously, we didn't look like an organized basketball team," Kings coach Michael Malone said.

Oklahoma City bolted to a 32-15 lead at the end of the first quarter after holding the Kings to 26 percent shooting, and the Thunder led 54-38 at halftime. Durant scored 16 points in the first half on just six shot attempts.

Sacramento's starters shot 7 for 28 from the field before the break. Cousins had two points on 1-for-3 shooting in the first half in just seven minutes because of foul trouble.

Durant surpassed 25 points on a 3-pointer in the third quarter, and then his lob to Westbrook for a dunk on Oklahoma City's next possession gave the Thunder a 77-51 lead. Oklahoma City led 82-51 at the end of the quarter.

"We did a good job of focusing in," Westbrook said. "We did a great job of just focusing on us and focusing on our team and trying not to worry about them so much."

No Kings player reached double figures in scoring until McLemore made two free throws with 10:27 remaining in the fourth.

"We are undermanned, we don't have a lot of bodies, so the guys who are able to play need to play with more of a sense of urgency and greater effort," Malone said.

NOTES: Thunder C Hasheem Thabeet inadvertently deflected a ball off the backboard and into the hoop for the Kings in the first quarter. ... Westbrook scored 10 points in nine minutes in the first quarter. ... Westbrook was issued a technical foul in the second quarter for punching the ball and making it go out of bounds. Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka got a technical in the first minute of the third quarter. ... Thunder G Reggie Jackson sat out with a mid-back sprain. ... Thunder G Reggie Williams played for the second time this season after recently signing a 10-day contract. ... Kings F Derrick Williams did not play due to illness. ... Kings rookie G Ray McCallum got his second career start in Thomas' place.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: OKC 94, Kings 81

THE FACT: The Thunder have never lost to the Kings in Oklahoma City (11-0).

THE LEAD: Thunder forward Kevin Durant has now scored at least 25 points in 37 straight games. He had 29 Friday night in just three quarters as the Oklahoma City Thunder (53-19) never trailed, led by as many as 32 and ended up cruising past the Sacramento Kings 94-81.

Durant is just three games shy now of tying Michael Jordan's modern day record of 40 straight, set in the 1986-87 season.

The Kings (25-47) couldn't get anything going on offense until the fourth quarter when they outscored Oklahoma City 30-12. Ben McLemore led Sacramento with 18 points, Travis Outlaw came off the bench for 17. Jason Thompson added a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas didn't play because of a bruised quad. Rudy Gay scored just seven points on 3-for-11 shooting and DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings' leading scorer (22.5 ppg) was held in check all night, scoring only four points on 2-for-8 shooting while pulling down just four rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "I thought in the first quarter and the third quarter we really came out with a good defensive disposition. We used our length really well, got into the passing lanes. The defense was outstanding for the first three quarters."--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: Things got a tad ragged in the fourth quarter but through the first 36 minutes of the game, Oklahoma City held Sacramento to just 30.2 percent shooting (19-for-63). Even with a big fourth quarter, the Kings still managed to shoot just 36.5 percent for the game.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder defense has been on and off since the All-Star break. Tonight it was on full force. The Kings just had 15 points in the first 16 minutes of the game and just 51 through three quarters. That suffocating pressure kept the Kings offense out of any kind of rhythm and never allowed them to seriously threaten the Thunder.

QUOTABLE II: "Very disappointed with how we played the first and third quarters tonight. We're under manned, we don't have a lot of bodies so the guys who are able to play need to play with a greater sense of urgency and greater effort. I loved how the second group played tonight, we won the second and fourth quarters and they left it all on the floor."--Kings coach Mike Malone

HOT: The Kings had nine offensive rebounds in the first half and eight in the second half...Duran t was 4-for-6 (16 points) in the first half and 5-for-5 (13 points) in the second half.

NOT: The Thunder missed five of their first six shots...the Kings missed four of their first five...and over the first 16 minutes of the game the Kings had 15 points on 5-for-25 shooting (20.0 percent)...Sacramento finished the half at 31.8 percent...Cousins was 1-for-5 (two points) in the second half.

GOOD MOVE: At times this season the Thunder have allowed big leads to slip away against teams in Oklahoma City. Some of those lapses led all the way to losses. Not tonight. The Thunder stayed focused and increased the lead out to 32 points early in the fourth quarter. There was slippage in the last frame but it was while the backups for both teams were on the floor.

BAD MOVE: The Thunder forced the Kings into a lot of missed shots in the first half (30) but then failed to capitalize on the boards. The Thunder had trouble blocking out on the Kings, giving up nine offensive rebounds in the first half.

ROOKIE WATCH: Thunder center Steven Adams started and played 15 minutes. He scored five points and grabbed two rebounds. OKC guard Andre Roberson also started and played 15 minutes. He scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting. Kings guard Ray McCallum started and played almost 46 minutes. He scored 13 points on 6-for-16 shooting.

NOTABLE: Thunder backup point guard Reggie Jackson was held out of the game tonight because of a strain in his back. He'll be evaluated on Saturday and is being listed as day-to-day.